


The Train Car Job

by pterawaters



Series: Five-0, Inc. [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Leverage Fusion, Car Accidents, Catherine is the Hacker, Con Artists, Danny and Scott are Twins, Danny is the Hitter, Kono is the Theif, Missing Persons, Multi, Polyamory, Scott is the Con Man, Sibling Incest, Steve is the Mastermind, Trains, Twincest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-31
Updated: 2015-08-31
Packaged: 2018-04-18 09:28:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4700906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Five-0, Inc. pulls off a heist to return a priceless piece of art to its rightful home in a museum, they run into a complication from Steve's past. Will they be able to get Steve free of the situation he's trapped in, or will they have to abandon hope of ever going home?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Train Car Job

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the tags! Make sure you're okay with everything in them before reading.

Danny keeps his conductor's hat low over his brow as he moves from the first baggage car into the second. Scott and Catherine are up in first class, drawing attention to themselves, and it's always best if there's fewer people who know Danny's running around with his brother's face. And vice versa, of course.

In a low voice, so the others can hear him, Danny says, "I still haven't found this thing."

"I haven't either," Kono replies. "It's nowhere in Ricci's room, though he does have an interesting stash of porn."

"Ooh, what kind?" Scott asks, even though he's in the middle of a conversation with Catherine and their target, some big oil tycoon who's too chicken-shit to fly.

Kono doesn't answer Scott's question, instead saying, "Doesn't he know about the internet?"

"Some people like to beat it old school," Danny says, scanning the car for a case that looks the right size to hold the statuette. He sees one strapped to the top shelf of a rack and curses quietly at the fact that Steve is keeping an eye on the passenger cars, because he could probably reach the case no problem. 

Kono sighs. "Catherine, did you find out if that woman on Ricci's arm is traveling with him or not?"

Catherine coughs and then whispers, "She is, but she's got her own sleeper car. Gillian Leandres."

"Bearth 15," Steve says. "You've still got eyes on her?"

"Yes. Oh, yes, that's right, darling!" Catherine says, and Danny can just imagine her hanging off Scott's arm, laughing at something charming, but probably offensive, if it came out of Scott's mouth. 

"Okay, Kono. See what you can find," Steve orders as Danny climbs the rack to get the case down.

Once he's back on the floor, Danny opens the case, and finds just camera equipment. No centuries-old statuette. No priceless art pieces of any kind. Danny slams his fist down on the crate next to him and closes the case, tossing it back up onto the rack.

"Everyone okay?" Kono asks, and Danny realizes she must've heard him.

"Yeah, fine," he says. "Just getting frustrated. Maybe our intel is bad."

"Our intel is fine, Danny," Steve replies, and now he's the one sounding frustrated. "Just keep looking."

Danny follows orders and keeps looking. He'd thought he'd had enough of following orders when he left the army, and he knew he'd had enough of it when he left the Newark PD. At least Danny only takes orders from one person anymore, and he can usually be reasoned with or persuaded if Danny knows Steve's going to make a bad decision.

It's the decisions that happen in the middle of a job, when there's no time to argue, that Danny worries about.

It must be ten minutes, five cases, and no statuettes later when Kono says, "Guys? I think I've got it."

"You _think_ you've got it, or you've got it?" Danny asks, holding a very heavy suitcase above his head.

"I've got it!" Kono cries, and Danny sighs with relief, putting the suitcase back. 

Danny gets to the end of the baggage car just as Steve says, "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh, what?" Danny asks, making sure the coast is clear before leaving the baggage car for the passenger car ahead. "Steven!"

Instead of responding to Danny, Steve cries, "Joe White! Good to see you, man!"

"Does anyone know who Joe White is?" Kono asks, her voice breathy, like she's moving quickly.

Catherine coughs and says, "Navy." She coughs again and says, "Sorry about that! The air in this train must be dry! I might need more champagne."

"Garçon," Scott cries out. "More champagne for my lady friend!"

"Navy guy, huh?" Danny asks. "He gonna be a problem?"

"Mm-hmm," Steve murmurs under his breath, before saying aloud, "It's been five years, man! Why don't you sit down and we can catch up?"

"I need to pass through that car to get to you, Danny," Kono says. "Is he gonna flag me when I go by?"

"I suppose you could always go up and over?" Danny suggests, obviously being sarcastic. He's at the door to the car Steve's in and he can see all the way down to Kono, standing outside the door on the other end. She's smiling.

"Oh, no, Kono!" Danny cries. "That was not a serious suggestion! Don't even think–"

Kono's climbing up before Danny can do anything about it.

"She's on top of the train," Danny tells the others. He debates for half a second heading up there to help her, before he decides he absolutely has to go at least witness the impractibility that is Kono Kalakaua in action.

Danny makes sure no one is looking through either of the windows flanking him before reaching up to climb the ladder. It's just a few rungs up to the top, and then Danny's peering over the edge.

Kono has her belly down on the train car and she's crawling her way toward, squinting against the wind. Fuck, this was such a bad idea. Danny gets the rest of the way up, gripping a ridge as tight as he can to steady himself. He watches Kono's progress, cursing to himself each time the train jostles more than he would like. 

Kono's almost all the way to Danny when there's a larger-than-average jostle and she loses her grip, sliding sideways and away from Danny. "Ah!"

Danny's moving before he consciously makes the decision, throwing himself toward Kono and grabbing her wrist just as he hooks his foot on the top rung of the ladder. "Gotcha."

Pulling herself toward Danny, Kono grins. "That was fun."

"Sweetheart," Danny says, scooting backward with his hand still gripping Kono's tightly, "your idea of fun is going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

They climb back down the ladder and Danny takes a deep breath. "Okay. We're good."

Kono takes the pack from her back and opens it, pulling out the statuette. "Now all we have to do is get off the train."

"We have to get off the train _now_ ," Danny says in agreement, motioning for Kono to head back into the passenger car again. "Before Leandres gets back to her cabin and realizes it's gone."

"It's like she was always _right_ in front of me, with that gorgeous ass of hers," Scott says, which Danny knows is his brother's way of telling them he's still got eyes on the woman. 

"Still," Danny replies, losing his conductor's hat, turning his coat around, and putting on a pair of sunglasses. He counts to ten and then follows Kono into the passenger cabin, sitting down next to her and looking out the window. "I'm calling Chin."

Danny somewhat pays attention to Steve's conversation with Joe White, and Danny's surprised by the amount of truth Steve is telling. Steve must know he can't get away with lying to this guy. Danny reaches for his phone and calls Chin. "Hey, you're picking me up from the train station, right buddy?"

"Hello to you, too," Chin replies. "You've got about ten miles to the Bramble Heights stop. I'll meet you there."

"Good," Danny replies, lowering his voice. "Hey, have Lori get on the train, huh? Steve needs a rescue, and neither Kono nor I are dressed the part."

"We'll grab them at the stop after," Chin replies. "See you in a few minutes."

"Yeah, see you," Danny replies.

Kono takes Danny's hand and sets her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad the museum will get their statue back."

"Don't jinx it, babe," Danny replies.

Scott starts wrapping up his conversation, saying, "Isn't this where we get off, Kitty-Cat?"

Danny and Kono both snort, knowing how much Catherine hates being called that. 

"It's our stop," Catherine says, her voice tight and overly-enthusiastic. "We should gather our things!"

"Well, Mr. Ricci, it was good meeting you," Scott says, that schmoozy tone in his voice. "Here's my card, if you do end up being interested in that opportunity I mentioned."

It's harder to hear Ricci's response through Scott and Catherine's ear pieces, but it sounds like he says, "...was all mine, Mr. Wilcox. I'll keep it in mind."

A minute later, when Catherine and Scott must be clear, Catherine says, "I _hate_ being the arm candy."

"Aw, but you make such good arm candy, baby," Scott says, and Danny and Kono share a look.

"Scott," Kono says, "you do know that Cath could beat you up if she wanted to, right?"

Scott's suspiciously silent, which answers that question. 

When the train stops, Danny and Kono slip off of it together, quickly finding Chin and the van. Scott and Catherine aren't far behind them. 

Over the radio, Danny hears Lori say, "Hey, honey! Who's your friend?"

"Lori Freeman, this is Joe White. He was my CO before I left the Navy," says Steve. 

"We've got to get ahead of the train if we're going to meet it at the next stop," says Chin, starting the engine. "Lori, Steve, call us if you need anything."

And then they're off, out of range and cruising down the flat, flat highway. Danny hates to say this, but he misses Oahu. He misses the mountains in the center of the island and the winding roads, and the way it takes years to figure out how to get where you need to go. Danny misses their giant bed and the penthouse. Danny misses his espresso maker. 

Scott kicks Danny and asks, "What's up _your_ ass?"

"I don't know," Danny says, reluctant to spill. "Just want this job to be done with so we can go home."

Scott gestures to Kono, who grins and hands the statuette over to him. "Well, we're most of the way there. Look at this fucking thing! Beautiful!"

Catherine, who has stripped out of her moneyed clothes and dressed in her usual jeans and sweatshirt, climbs into shotgun, saying, "Joe White has always been able to read Steve like an open book. It's one of the reasons Steve left the Navy when…" She clears her throat and looks over her shoulder at Danny. He knows Catherine doesn't mean to insinuate that Danny ended Steve's Naval career when they both know it was Jack McGarrett's death that ultimately led to that turn of events. The apologetic grimace helps to appease Danny's hurt feelings, and then Catherine's saying, "Joe's going to know something's going down. We just have to hope Lori gets Steve out of there before he spills the whole can of beans."

"Oh, shit," Kono says, drawing everyone's attention (even Chin's via the rear view mirror).

"What?" Scott asks, turning the statuette over in his hands. "This is the one, right?"

"Joe's a father figure to Steve, isn't he?" Kono asks, reaching up to put her hand on Catherine's arm.

Catherine nods. "Yeah."

"Oh, shit," Danny says in agreement. He bites his upper lip and presses his hands together like that will quell the urge to hit something. "Lori needs to get him out of there. Now."

"I'm calling her," Catherine says from up front.

Beside Danny, Scott asks, "The job's already done. What do we care if some geezer gets the details out of Steve?"

"Because Ricci's people already know Steve's face," Danny explains, snatching the statuette out of Scott's hands and whistling at Kono, holding it out until she takes it and stows it in her foam-padded pack. "And if Joe, even unintentionally, gives them Steve's real name?"

Scott's eyes light up with understanding. "They're going to want revenge. We'll have to scrub his identity. Maybe even leave Oahu."

"Exactly," Danny replies, watching as Catherine curses and then dials her phone again.

When Danny's phone rings, he gets it out of his pocket immediately, sure that it's Steve calling. Instead, Grace's bright smile lights up his screen. Danny picks it up, because he promised he always would. "Hey, Monkey. What's up?"

"Hi, Daddy," Grace says, her voice low. "I only have a minute."

"Me too," Danny replies. "It's good to hear from you."

Grace sniffles, and Danny feels like his heart might just up and quit on him.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Danny asks, his eyes on Scott as Scott heads up toward the front of the van, where Catherine still hasn't reached Lori.

"Can I come live with you, Danno?" she asks, using her most pitiful and sympathy-inducing voice.

"As much as I would love that," Danny says, "that's just not going to happen anytime soon, sweetie. What brings this on? Did something happen?"

Grace sniffles again and says, "Mommy and Stan had a fight. It was really scary."

Danny clenches his teeth together, but holds in the urge to punch the van wall. "Did anyone get hurt, Grace?"

"No," she says, her tone flicking upward, like she's confused why Danny would ask.

"That's good," Danny replies. Between being worried about Steve, and about his life with Steve and the others possibly being in danger, and Grace, Danny feels like he doesn't have any headspace left to think. He needs to do what's best for Grace, and he's becoming less and less convinced that staying with her mother full time is in Grace's best interest. There's not much Danny can do for her today, from the mainland, but not much isn't nothing. "Gracie, I want you to tell your favorite teacher about Mommy and Stan shouting. Okay?"

"Okay," Grace says. "I can do that."

"And Monkey? Don't tell the teacher about-"

"About talking to you," she finishes for Danny with a pause that feels like a scoff. "I _know_ Danno."

"Okay," Danny says, pressing his free hand against the side of the van as Chin takes the last turn into the next train station at a speed Steve would certainly approve of. "Monkey, I've got to go. Talk to your teacher, okay?"

Grace makes an affirmative noise, and then whispers quickly, "Bye, Danno. I love you."

"I love you too," Danny says, though he's fairly certain Grace has already hung up on him to keep her mother from finding the phone Danny gave her six months ago.

"Fuck," Danny says to no one in particular. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Put the fucks on hold, Danny," Kono says. "Lori's not picking up and Steve isn't either. We have to get back on the train."

"Chin and I will guard the statue," Scott says, and Danny is completely unsurprised. "Go, go, go!"

Danny rolls his eyes, but he follows Catherine and Kono out of the van and through the train station. There's no time to buy tickets, so Danny watches the train officials and finds an opening in their surveillance of the passengers. He urges first Kono, then Catherine onto the train ahead of him. They're a few cars from the engine, so Danny says, "Kono, look that way. Catherine, come with me."

They nod in agreement, which Catherine especially only really does when Steve's the one giving the orders. Danny thinks she must be as sick with worry as Danny feels.

Danny leads Catherine back through the train, looking as quickly and as thoroughly as he dares. They're most of the way through the passenger cars when Catherine calls, "Danny! There's someone in this bathroom."

Danny doubles back, watching as Catherine knocks and gets no answer. She knocks again, and still nothing. Danny waves her out of the way and forces the door open. Danny's first impressions are _blonde hair_ and _blood_ , and he clenches his jaw at the sick sensation of recognition. He moves forward carefully, putting his hand on Lori's neck and sighing with relief when he feels a strong pulse.

"It's Lori," Danny says, calling to Catherine over his shoulder. "I got Lori. She's hurt."

At the sound of Danny's voice, Lori starts to stir, groaning and bringing her hand to her head. 

Danny wants to stay and make sure Lori's okay, but Steve's still missing and Danny can't let that slide. He turns to Catherine, asking her with a look what he should do.

Catherine's eyes water and she looks back and forth between Danny and Lori, until finally she says, "Go. Danny, go. I've got her."

"Thank you," Danny says on a sigh, pressing a quick kiss to Catherine's lips. "Be safe."

"You too," she replies, pushing Danny toward the back of the train. "C'mere, Lori. Come on. We've got to get out of here."

Danny leaves them behind and heads for the back of the train. There's no sign of Steve in the passenger cars, and when Danny gets to the baggage car, there's three workers blocking his path. Normally, Danny would go around, because they had nothing to do with this, and Danny doesn't like being seen. Finding Steve is too important, though, so Danny bursts into the car.

The element of surprise gets him past the workers with a quick shout of, "Don't mind me!" Danny does the same with the second baggage car, and then he's in the last car and there's no sign of Steve.

"Shit," Danny says, opening up the door at the end of the train and climbing down onto the tracks. He runs back the way the train came, looking for clues. "I don't have Steve," he says to the others. "Please tell me one of you found him. Kono?"

"No, Danny," Kono says, panting like she's been running. "I don't have him."

"Hey-hey!" Scott says. "I have, what do you call it?" "Eyes," Chin supplies. "Eyes! I've got eyes on Steve. This bald motherfucker and his friends are goose-stepping Steve over to their car."

Danny skids to a stop, the gravel from the train tracks flying everywhere under his boots. "Follow them!" Danny cries as he turns and starts running back. "Chin, don't you dare lose that car."

"I'm on it," Chin assures him, and Danny gets through the gate next to the tracks and into the parking lot just in time to see Chin pull away.

"Kono?" Danny asks, looking around for the rest of his team. "Catherine?"

"Right behind you," Kono says, one of Lori's arms over her shoulders, while Catherine has the other. 

Lori's conscious, but swaying on her feet. "I didn't see…" Lori says, pressing her eyes together tightly, like she's in a lot of pain. "I didn't even see it coming."

"We should get her to the hospital," Catherine says, though Danny can see she's just about as desperate to go after Steve as he is.

"No," Lori says, and Danny's not the only one wearing a surprised expression at the vehemence in her voice. "When we get Steve back, I'll go to the hospital."

Danny shares a look with Catherine, and then with Kono. It's Kono who smiles and says, "So what car are we borrowing today?"

There's a Mustang in the parking lot and Danny's fingers itch for it and all the horsepower under its hood, but if there's anything Danny learned about how to be a criminal from his time on the Newark PD, it's that flashy is what gets you caught.

"Blue SUV," Catherine says, nodding toward the vehicle, and just like that, Kono's on it. She gets the door jimmied and the engine going in about five seconds flat, jumping behind the wheel. Danny grabs shotgun, which leaves Catherine and Lori in the back.

"Okay, Kono," Catherine says. "I've got the van on my GPS. If we take a right out of the parking lot, we might be able to cut them off."

"Got it," Kono replies, getting the SUV out of the parking space and then peeling out of the parking lot. She drives around a bunch of the cars waiting to exit, which isn't exactly playing it cool, but there's a time factor here, so Danny can forgive her. Of course when she shouts, "Get out of the fucking way, lady!" Danny finds forgiveness a little closer to his heart.

A few tense minutes later, Catherine says, "They've stopped. A few more blocks, and then on the left."

When they get to the van, it's parked a dozen yards from a silver sedan that's flipped onto its roof. There's shattered glass everywhere, and blood, and Danny's out of the car before Kono even stops it. "No, no, no, no..." Danny murmurs as he sprints down the road, catching up with Scott just as he reaches the flipped car. 

"Steve!"

One of the doors flies open like it's been kicked and Danny steps in front of Scott, ready to fight. But it's Steve who crawls from the wreck, bleeding from a wound above his eyebrow and a big gash on his left thigh. "Steve!" 

Danny tries to give Steve his hand, to help him walk away from the wreck, but Steve waves him off and turns, helping someone else out. A creak and a crunching sound on the other side of the car catch Danny's attention and his instincts respond to the threat before he understands it in his conscious brain.

Danny jumps up and over the wreck of the car, nearly catching his hand in the drive train when it slips, and kicks the gun away before landing on the goon. He pummels the guy, holding him down with a hand to the windpipe and using the other hand to deliver punch after painful punch. "Don't. You. _Ever_. Point a _gun_ at me. Or my _family_. Again!"

"Danno," says a voice in his ear, a hand squeezing his shoulder. "If it were up to me, I'd let you kill this fucker, but you know how Steve feels about that."

Danny wipes the sweat from his face onto his sleeve and looks over at his brother. "Yeah," he says with a nod, putting his hand on Scott's shoulder in turn. "Yeah, you're right."

The guy's unconscious now, anyway.

Danny lets Scott help him to his feet, and then they're all piling into the rented van, leaving the wreck and the stolen SUV behind. It's a tight squeeze with all seven members of Five-0, Inc and Chin's surveillance equipment, but with Steve's friend shoved into the back corner, looking at them, it's downright claustrophobic. 

Sitting up at shotgun next to Chin, Kono's the first one to speak, asking, "Who were those guys?"

Steve's face is blank, his eyes steely and focused on the newcomer. Joe is white and bald with blue eyes and this serene expression on his face that Danny would love to bury his fist in. Clearing his throat, Steve says, "Yeah, Joe. Who were those guys?"

Joe holds Steve's gaze for a long time before saying, "Yakuza. Japanese mafia."

"What the fuck were they doing on that train?" Scott asks, pressed tight against Danny's side as they crouch on the floor of the van, only Steve between them and Joe. Danny's got Catherine at his back, too, Lori's bloodied head in her lap.

Joe blinks at Danny a few times. "I think I hit my head during the crash. Are there–"

"Two of us, yeah," Danny says, rolling his eyes. It's not often that Scott and Danny let themselves be seen in public together, but people's reactions when they are get a little old. "Now get to the part where you tell us why the Yakuza were there, and why they took Steve."

"Well," Joe says, his eyes locked with Danny's (which is frankly disconcerting), "they were there for me. I suppose they saw me hug Steve and decided he was with me."

"And why do the Yakuza want you, Joe?" Steve asks, holding onto the equipment counter as Chin takes a right turn. 

"Because," Joe says, almost like it should be obvious, "I have the location of someone they want."

"Who?" Steve asks. 

Joe smiles. "That's classified."

Danny's used to his version of Steve, the one who goes after what he wants with a single-minded zeal that Danny has to admit is very attractive. This other version of Steve, the one he must've been in the military, just shuts down at that word. One little word and then Steve sighs. "Fine."

"Not fine, Steven!" Scott cries out. "This guy already got you almost killed!"

"Yeah," Danny cuts in, saying, "and the guys after him gave Lori a concussion!"

"They could've killed her. They could've killed _you_ ," Scott says. "I think we should at least know who we're dealing with if we're going to be risking our lives for him."

"We need to get back to Chicago. Give the museum their statue back and finish this job," Danny insists. "Now that he's safe, Joe can go his own way."

"Yeah," Scott says, snapping his fingers and pointing at Danny. "Yeah, that. You're a big boy, right, Joe? You can take care of yourself."

Danny opens his mouth to continue the rant, but Steve beats him to it, saying, "Stop. Just stop."

Danny doesn't want to stop, but he loves and respects Steve, so he does. That doesn't mean he stops himself from glaring at Steve. Danny can only see Scott out of the corner of his eye, but he's fairly certain Scott's directing the same expression at Steve.

Steve ignores the stares and says, "Those Yakuza called their buddies before I was able to disarm them. They don't have my name, but they do have a general description. The guy in charge is expecting both of us, and when no one shows at the rendezvous..." Steve shakes his head, meeting Danny's eyes. "I can't... " Steve looks back at Joe. "I can't leave a man behind, especially not one that saved my ass on more than one occasion. If anything, I should go with Joe and leave the rest of you out of this."

"Fat chance," says Catherine over Danny's shoulder. 

Kono turns in her seat, saying, "If you think we're letting you do this alone, you're _kū i ka hewa_ , Steve."

Steve presses his lips together, then meets Danny's eyes, raising his brows. Danny nods just before Steve's eyes slide over toward Scott. Danny watches Scott hesitate, and then finally nod as well.

"Okay," Steve says, though he doesn't sound happy about it. "Okay. Chin?"

"Yeah, boss?" Chin calls over his shoulder, eyes on the road.

"You get Lori to the hospital." Steve pauses, his mouth open and his eyes on the ceiling before he tilts his head in a half-nod. "Those Yakuza know her face. Maybe take her fifty miles, then find a hospital."

"Of course." Chin pulls up to a stop light before giving Lori the softest look Danny has ever seen on his face. "I'm taking the rest of you back to the hotel?"

"Yeah," Steve says. "We've got the rooms under an alias. They shouldn't be able to find us."

"I already ran recon on all of the hotel staff members," Catherine says, shrugging when Scott gives her a look. "What? I was bored! Anyway, none of them have any known ties to organized crime."

"Oh, well that's good news," Danny says, reaching back to squeeze Catherine's arm. "What about medical attention for this guy?" Danny points over to Steve.

Steve gives Danny an incredulous look. "What? I'm fine!"

"Steve." Danny flicks his eyes to the bloodied patch on the thigh of Steve's cargo pants.

"Danny," Steve replies, eyes trained on Danny and refusing to look at his wound. 

With a scoff, Kono says, "I brought the big first aid kit in my suitcase. I'll stitch him up if no one else will."

"Thank you, _Kono_ ," Steve says, his eyes still on Danny until he finally breaks away. "While we're doing that, we need to come up with a plan to get the Yakuza off our trail."

"We'll come up with something," Scott says with a smile and a flippant shrug. "I mean, we always do."

Danny supposes that's true. After all, Five-0, Inc. wouldn't work if they weren't good at coming up with plans. Maybe Danny has to look at Joe White more like one of their clients, than like the guy who got Lori and Steve hurt. Honestly, it will probably be better for his blood pressure that way.

~*~

Danny's head hurts. He collapses down onto one of the hotel room beds and kicks off his shoes. If fucking Joe White wasn't still in the room, Danny would take off a lot more.

"Okay, Chin," Catherine says, sitting down on the bed next to Danny and putting her hand in his. "Just let us know how it goes." She hangs up her phone and tells Danny, "They went with a mugging story. The doctor's doing a CT scan now. Chin's going to call me back when they know more."

A hiss from across the room draws Danny's attention to where Kono's putting stitches in Steve's leg. Danny asks Catherine, "Where did she even learn to do that?"

Catherine follows Danny's line of sight to Kono and then turns back to Danny. "Um, YouTube, I think."

Biting down on the folded cloth in his mouth, his knuckles white as he grips the chair he's sitting in, Steve groans. 

Danny scoffs and tells Catherine, "I am never letting her do that to me."

Scott flops down onto the bed next to Danny and says, "I'd let her do anything to me that she wanted, if you know what I mean."

"Scott," says Catherine, rolling her eyes, " _everyone_ knows what you mean."

"I'm just saying…" Scott shrugs, settling into the bed, his shoulder pressed to Danny's, just like when they were kids. The gesture makes Danny feel comfortable, even safe, but it also makes his cock twitch a little. Danny has almost stopped caring about that voice in his head that says it's wrong to be affected by Scott's presence that way. The others don't care. Why should Danny?

Catherine lays down on Danny's other side, her tablet in her hands. After a few minutes of poking at it, while they all listen to Steve get his stitches, Catherine sighs again and sets the tablet aside. "I can't think anymore," she announces. "Anyone else want something from the mini bar?"

Danny raises his hand. "Me."

"I definitely need something," Kono says, cutting off the end of the suture thread with what Danny's pretty sure are the wire cutters she uses to disable security systems. "Steve?"

Steve takes the cloth out of his mouth and nods, groaning, "Oh, yeah. Next time remind me to wait until the car stops before shooting the driver."

"Remind me to never let you go anywhere alone, ever again," Danny says, closing his eyes and draping his arm over them to block out the light. 

"Love you too, Danno," Steve says, groaning as he stands up and limps toward the bathroom. "Can I take a piss by myself, or do you want to supervise?"

Danny holds up his middle finger, which makes Scott snicker. Steve shuts himself in the bathroom. 

"Okay," Catherine says, standing with her hands on her hips. "This isn't a minibar. It's a bag of cookies and two bottles of water."

Joe picks that moment to speak up. "Well, we are in the Bible Belt."

Catherine makes a frustrated noise and wanders back toward Danny and Scott. "The Bible Belt is no fun."

"Sleep sounds fun," Kono says, punctuating her assertion with a yawn.

Joe stands up and says, "Well, I'll take that as my cue to head out. Anyone else heading for their rooms?"

Oh, God. Joe doesn't know. Danny opens his eyes to watch him realize the situation, but instead, Scott sits up and says, "Kono, sweetheart, I just want to talk to Danny about something for a few minutes before we go to our room. Can you hang on that long?"

Picking up on the hint immediately, Kono says, "I'm good, honey. Talk as long as you need to."

"Ah," Joe says. "And you, Catherine?"

Danny thinks it's funny that Joe assumes of the three of them remaining, it's Steve and Danny who are the couple. Of course, Joe probably caught wind of the reason Steve had to leave the Navy, so maybe it does make a kind of sense. 

Catherine smiles. "Oh, I'm sharing with Steve and Danny. After all those years on ship, I can't stand sleeping in a room by myself."

Eyebrows up, Joe says, "Alright. Suit yourself. I'll see you guys in the morning."

Steve comes out of the bathroom in time to say a few quiet words to Joe in parting. And then Joe is gone and Danny feels like he can breathe again. 

Breathing also means being able to complain. "l hurt _everywhere_. Somebody be a peach and take off my pants, would you?"

Apparently, both Catherine and Scott are feeling helpful. Kono strips and piles on and then there's just Steve, standing at the foot of the bed in his boxers.

"I miss our bed at home," he says with a pout, and Danny has to agree that there's absolutely no room left in this bed. 

Which is why they got a room with a second bed. Danny crawls over Scott to get out and onto the floor. Taking Steve's hand, Danny says, "C'mon, big guy. You know those stitches are gonna get pulled if you try to squeeze in with more than one of us."

Steve lets Danny lead him to the other bed, limping as he moves. "Yeah," he says regretfully, eyes on the way Scott, Catherine, and Kono are all snuggled up together. He sits down on the other bed and scoots over to make room for Danny. "C'mon. Let's get some sleep."

~*~

“Okay,” Scott says, sitting on the hotel room desk, taking large bites of an apple. “I think the best way to get out of this is to make the Yakuza believe both of you are dead. If they’re really after you come hell or high water, it’s the best fucking way to get them to back off.”

“How do we do that, exactly?” Joe asks. He doesn’t look like he slept much the night before, which is a feeling Danny knows all too well. At least Danny slept moderately well the night before, nightmares about not catching Kono in time notwithstanding. 

Scott chews for a moment and then says, “Find the right body of water, and it’s easy, especially for Navy boys like you two. All we need are a couple of scuba tanks and a disposable car. Let the Yakuza find you, lead them on a merry chase, and then let them force you off a pier or something.”

Steve nods. “Stay under long enough that they think we’ve drowned. Yeah, it could work.”

Danny can’t say he likes this plan. He can’t say he likes most of the plans they end up carrying out, but as a team their track record is pretty good so far. Still, he asks, “What happens if someone sees the crash and calls the cops? What happens when they pull up two very alive scuba divers?”

“We pick the right isolated location,” Kono says, and Danny can see her sinking her teeth into this plan. She’s standing by the window, and Danny thinks she might be keeping watch out of habit more than out of necessity. “Do it at night? No one will find the car until morning. If ever.”

Catherine, who’s sitting on the floor with her back resting on the bed between Danny’s legs, says, “I could put out a fake news bulletin the next day, report that the car and bodies were found.”

Steve thinks about this and then asks, “But won’t that prompt other people to demand identities on the bodies that were supposedly found?”

Catherine seems to consider this, but it’s Joe who says, “Put fictitious names and biographies in the article. As long as they don’t match too closely to anyone who actually exists, no one will think twice about the poor bastards who died. The Yakuza will think they're aliases, especially if we actually manufacture the aliases with our faces.”

Catherine nods eagerly. "Yeah, I can do that. I can do all of that."

"Well, this is all well and good, but somebody's going to have to scout a good location," Danny points out, looking to Steve for a decision. "Who's gonna do that?"

Steve says, "Well, Catherine can build us a list before she starts working on the news article. To pinpoint a good location, Joe and I will both have to see it. Danny, you're with us just in case the Yakuza find us early." Steve looks around the rest of the room, and points to Lori, who's laying in bed per her doctor's orders. "You have to rest," Steve insists. When Lori tries to argue, Steve cuts her off. "No. I won't hear it. You're resting."

Chin has his hand folded in Lori's. "You heard what the doctor said. With a concussion like this, you have to take it easy for the first few days."

"Fine," Lori says petulantly, but she smiles when Chin brushes a hand along her cheek.

Steve gives the two of them a moment as he wanders across the room, then back. Pointing to the man in question, Steve says, "Chin, you help Catherine build that list?"

"Sure," Chin says with a sharp nod.

Steve returns the nod and says, "Okay, then I want you to monitor the police and emergency response radio frequencies. If someone finds the wreck, we might have to get a little more proactive about our self defense."

"How about me and Kono, babe?" Scott asks Steve, taking another bite of his apple. Danny notices the way Joe's face twitches when Scott uses the pet name. Maybe Joe will assume – correctly – that it's a name Scott uses with almost everyone. Danny even finds himself saying it to people other than his lovers on occasion.

"I want you and Kono," Steve says, taking a few steps until he's next to Kono and putting his hand on her shoulder, "to find us a car. Something that'll perform, but that nobody's going to miss. Bank owned, or police auctioned, or abandoned would be best."

Kono nods with a bright smile, clapping her hand to Steve's hip. "You got it, boss."

"Oh," Steve says, sliding his arm around Kono's shoulders, "and find us a couple of wet suits. The water around here isn't exactly Hawaii-warm."

"Sure." Kono reaches up like she's going to kiss Steve before she realizes that they have company. She kisses Steve's cheek quickly, like that's what she meant to do. 

"And a waterproof dressing for his leg," Danny suggests, giving Steve a glare when he looks like he's going to argue. "If you die because that gash of yours gets infected, I'm gonna kill you."

Steve rolls his eyes, but nods at Kono without further argument.

Kono ducks away from Steve and gestures to Scott. "C'mon. Let's get this thing rolling. We need to be in Chicago by morning, or we aren't getting paid."

"As the lady wishes," Scott says, throwing his apple core in the trash and winking at Joe as he walks by. The gesture makes Joe frown and shift in his seat, which in turn makes Danny cover his mouth and cough so he doesn't laugh. 

Danny's always been a sucker for Scott's attempts to make authority figures uncomfortable. It always got them into a lot of trouble during school. Danny's surprised he never ended up with more than a few misdemeanors on his juvenile record. Of course, he and Scott did find other ways to occupy their time.

"Let's do this," Steve agrees, reaching for Danny. "C'mon. Let's go for a drive."

~*~

“There they go,” Scott says, the night-vision binoculars to his face as they wait almost a mile from the point at which Steve drives his car off the road and into the lake. “Wow, that is a fucked-up thing to watch.”

“Don’t remind me,” Danny says, and he tries not to look across the lake, but he can’t help it. All he can see without the binoculars are the lights of the Yakuza cars – three of them last time Steve checked in with Catherine, who’s been texting Danny updates, even as she rides with Chin, Lori, and Kono toward Chicago so they can deliver the statue to its rightful owners at the museum. Danny, Scott, and Steve will follow as soon as Steve’s done swimming across the lake. Danny supposes Joe can come too.

Scott shifts in his seat, looking over his shoulder at Danny. His expression is hard to make out, since (except for checking texts) they’ve gone as dark as they can to avoid the Yakuza seeing them and figuring out the plan. “What if Steve hits his head on the steering wheel?”

“The car had airbags,” Danny assures Scott, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel of the rented car he and his brother are waiting in. Danny hopes he brought enough towels that the rental company doesn’t charge him damage for transporting two soaked Navy SEALs. “How long did Steve say it would take them to swim that far?”

“Half an hour,” Scott replies, setting down the binoculars. “Why? You wanna find an interesting way to pass the time?”

Danny huffs, but it comes out more like a chuckle than he’d like. “You know hanky-panky on the job is against the rules, Scotty.”

“Just a little hand job?” Scott asks, and Danny can almost see his sad puppy-dog face in the dark. “It’ll take five minutes. Tops.”

Danny reaches up and claps his hand on Scott’s shoulder. “You realize your libido is the reason we even have that rule in the first place, don’t you? Remember Maui?”

“Hey, that was Kono’s fault too,” Scott says, putting his hand over Danny’s. “Just because it was my idea to fuck while we were waiting in that storage closet doesn’t mean she had to go along with it.”

Danny’s laugh is louder this time. “Are you kidding me? If I recall correctly, which I do, she was brand new to this whole relationship situation of ours at the time. She was trying to impress you, jerk-off.”

With a hum, Scott says, “Well there’s an idea.”

“Aw, come on,” Danny says in complaint, giving Scott a back-handed smack right on his chest. “If you start jacking off in here, babe, I’m gonna get distracted. I’m gonna get distracted and the Yakuza are going to find us and then we’re all dead.” Danny takes a breath, but he knows Scott isn’t convinced yet. “That’s not to _mention_ the rental car company and the fact that I gave them _my credit card_ for damages. So, no. You are not jerking it in this car at all ever.”

“I jerk off in the Camaro all the time,” Scott says, like that’s any sort of argument that’s going to sway Danny.

“You don’t think I know that? You leave your little tissues in the cup holder. I told Catherine you get allergies.” Danny rolls his eyes. He’s still pretty sure she only pretended to believe the lie for the sake of everyone’s pride. “And that’s different. We own that car, free and clear. It’s our property. This is a _rental_!”

"Are you done?" Scott asks, his brows high on his forehead. 

Danny shrugs. "Have I made my point sufficiently for you to give up this pipe dream of yours?"

"Fuck." Scott tenses up.

Trying to see around his brother, Danny asks, "What? Did you see something?"

"No," Scott says. "But I'm about two seconds away from a laying-pipe joke and I just wanna request that if you're going to punch me, please don't punch me in the face."

Sighing with relief, Danny says, "I'm not gonna punch you, Scotty."

Scott laughs. "If I start jerking it, though?"

Danny can't help himself from laughing. "Then I definitely will punch you."

"But not in the face."

With a hum of agreement, Danny settles down into his seat, ready for this wait to just be over.

Scott says, "When you think about it, if you were to punch me in the face, I'd probably end up with a black eye."

"True," Danny replies.

Nudging Danny's hand with his own, Scott continues. "And, if I had a black eye, but we needed to look identical for a job, _you'd_ have to have a black eye too. You'd have to give me a little chance at tit-for-tat."

"You _wish_ you were capable of giving me a black eye," Danny says, and this back-and-forth of theirs, this rhythm, helps Danny feel a little better about waiting so long to make sure Steve isn't dead at the bottom of a lake.

"Hey, I work out," Scott insists, and Danny can feel the way Scott moves, like he's flexing and doing poses, but they're almost impossible to see in the pitch black of the moonless night in the middle of no where.

Ignoring Scott, Danny asks, "Babe, can I borrow those night-vision binoculars?"

"Changing the subject, huh?" Scott says with a chuckle, but he finds Danny's hand with his and then places the binoculars into them.

Danny looks out over the lake, and it's absolutely serene. The Yakuza cars start to move away and Danny lets out a relieved breath. A tiny flash of light, on and then back off, gives Danny an idea of how far Steve and Joe have made it. They're headed in the wrong direction, but as Danny keeps watching, he sees another tiny flash and then another, heading toward them. that compass and flashlight Steve had insisted on bringing make so much more sense now. 

"C'mon," Danny says, taking the binoculars away from his face and blinking at the darkness. "Let's go meet them at the edge of the lake. They're going to be freezing."

His voice low and actually serious for once, Scott says, "Yeah. I'll grab some of the towels from the back."

"Quietly," Danny reminds him, even though Scott is already moving slowly and carefully, so they don't attract any sort of attention.

Scott ignores Danny, slipping from his side of the car and easing the door shut, then walking softly toward the trunk. Danny waits, binoculars to his eyes again. Another flash. Another readjustment to their trajectory. 

Danny dials down the magnification on his binoculars, and takes Scott by the elbow. "Here. Come with me."

"You gonna be my eyes, bro?" Scott asks, going where Danny puts him for once as they walk down from the road toward the edge of the lake.

They're almost there when Danny pauses, sure it's about time for another flash of light under the lake. He's right, and there it is, but beside Danny, Scott falls away with a short cry.

"Shit, you okay?" Danny asks in a whisper, looking down at where Scott has landed, ass deep in a spectacularly muddy puddle. Through the binoculars, Danny sees Scott glaring up at him, and he can't help but laugh.

"Fuck you, Danno," Scott says, throwing the towels at Danny, who catches most of them. "I can't see shit out here with you hogging the night-vision, and then you let me go and fall in this mud-hole!" He groans, and then mutters, "Shit. I think I'm stuck."

Danny bites his lips to keep himself from laughing out and giving away their position to any Yakuza who might still be hanging around (Danny's fairly certain they're not, but you never know). "I'm sorry, buddy," Danny says, his shoulders shaking with laughter, and there's nothing he can do about it. He sets the towels in a dry spot and then circles around to find the best footing. He finds some fairly stable ground, plants his feet, and reaches down for Scott's hand.

Scott's grip is sure and tight in Danny's, and they start pulling together, but Scott doesn't budge. "If I'm fucking stuck in this mud forever, Danny," Scott says with a groan, "I swear, I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Do you realize how dumb you sound?" Danny shifts his feet and pulls again, but the ground underneath his left foot gives way and he slips forward, landing on Scott with a grunt. "Ow."

"Danny!" Scott's cry is strangled as he pushes at Danny, trying to make room between the two of them. "Get off me."

Danny pushes against the ground, but both of his hands sink into the mud and gets stuck. When he tries, it's almost painful to pull his right hand back out. "Ugh, now I'm getting stuck." He puts his hand on Scott's shoulder and pushes, rearranging himself until he's straddling Scott's thighs.

"I thought you said no hanky-panky on a job," Scott says, putting his heavy hands on Danny's hips. 

Danny shifts his hips and yep, Scott's hard underneath him. "I did say that," Danny replies, but he can't get out of the mud, and every move he tries to make just grinds his ass down onto Scott's hard-on. "Jesus Christ." With a hiss, Danny says, "Stop it!"

"Sorry, can't help it," Scott replies, not an ounce of regret in his voice. He reaches out and pulls Danny into a kiss; and this? This has always been Danny's weakness.

This is one of the reasons Danny's marriage to Rachel didn't work out. This is the reason their mother thinks Scott's still living in LA, because it eases her mind to think she hasn't raised two complete deviants who can't stand to be apart from one another.

But Scott is Danny's weakness, and the way he kisses Danny never fails to unravel Danny in all the worst ways. "Steve and Joe are going to be here any second."

"It's not our fault we got stuck," Scott replies, kissing the edge of Danny's jaw. "And my pants are a mess anyway."

"You are a sick, sick man." Danny catches Scott's mouth again, wrapping his free hand around Scott's shoulders, and then pulling the other hand loose from the mud. Before he pulls back like he was intending to do, Danny's got his muddy hand in Scott's hair and he's sucking on Scott's tongue. He's hard and his trousers are wet with mud and slippery and _fuck_ it's getting difficult to think.

A splash pulls Danny out of the moment, and suddenly he realizes he’s cold almost to the point of shivering, and he shouldn’t let Steve’s friend see him like this. Stifling a groan, Danny heaves himself up onto his feet, despite the way Scott tries to cling onto him.

“Really?” Scott asks, but then there’s more splashing coming from the lake and he lets Danny go. “Shit.”

Danny wriggles first one foot and then the other until his boots loosen enough that he can pull up his feet without losing them. Once he’s free, Danny tells Scott, “Hang in there,” and then he heads for the towels, finding them more by feel than by sight, since he dropped the night vision binoculars when he slipped into the mud. Steve’s going to kill him for that.

A towel in hand, Danny twists it up and gets back over to Scott. He gives his brother one end, saying, "Hold onto this, pull on three," and then he finds a good rock to anchor his feet on. This time, instead of leaning over the mud hole, Danny’s ass-down on the ground next to it. Getting the best grip on the towel that he can, Danny says, “Okay. One. Two. Three!”

Danny pulls, using his legs for leverage, his muddy boots solid against the rough rock. Scott comes loose with a loud sucking sound and then he’s on top of Danny, and they’re both covered in mud, and all Danny can do is curse while he’s laughing. “Fuck. Not this again!”

“I like this,” Scott says with his own chuckle. “I’m on top this time.”

Pushing Scott to the side, Danny stands up and says in a snide tone, “Not right now, dear.”

He’s just helping Scott back to his feet when a flashlight switches on, pointing right at Danny and practically blinding him. “Hey!”

“What happened to you two?” Steve asks, pointing the flashlight back on the ground. He’s got his scuba tanks on his back, his goggles up on his head, and his flippers under one arm. Joe is right behind him, and Danny’s glad he can’t see Joe’s expression, because he doesn’t think his pride could take it if he could.

“We came down to the water to give you some towels when this _genius_ ,” Danny says, gesturing to Scott, “had to go fall into a giant mud hole.”

“Barely escaped with my life,” Scott adds, giving Danny an annoyed look. “And _someone_ who’s name may or may not be Danny was supposed to be using the night vision to keep things like this from happening.”

“I told you to stay close,” Danny insists.

“Okay,” Steve says, loud enough that Scott just glares at Danny instead of responding. “If you two are done, let’s get back to the car and get the hell out of here.”

“I second that request,” Joe says, and Danny notices that the guy is shivering badly. It’s summer, so it’s not that cold out, but Joe is also pushing sixty, if not past it, so Danny doesn’t argue. As a cop in Newark, he saw one or two elderly people succumb to the cold weather, and now he knows it's easier for them to go downhill fast than younger people.

In fact, in the light of Steve’s flashlight, it’s easy for Danny to find the dry towels and hand a couple of them to Joe as they head back toward the car. “Here, let me take those,” he says, divesting Joe of his flippers and air tanks. The tanks are heavier than Danny expects, and he can’t imagine swimming all that way with those on his back.

It takes less than a minute to get back up to the car, and then they’re piling in. Danny puts towels on the seats, but between the water on Steve and Joe, and the mud on Danny and Scott, it’s pretty much a lost cause. Danny starts the car, turns on the parking lights, and crawls away from the lake, hoping none of the Yakuza are still watching.

As soon as the engine warms up, Danny blasts the heat, causing Joe to sigh with relief. “Thank you.”

When Danny doesn’t respond, mostly because he’s driving, but also because he doesn’t want Joe thinking he owes Danny any favors, Steve says from his seat behind Danny, “You’re welcome, Joe.”

Scott turns around in his seat, his muddy shoulder brushing Danny’s as he looks into the back. “You ever going to tell us who the mystery person is?”

“What mystery person?” Steve asks, his tone unyielding, like when he wants someone to just stop talking.

Scott’s never been one to listen to that tone. “The one the Yakuza want? The one you’re protecting?”

“It’s classified, Scotty,” Steve says, as if Joe isn’t capable of saying that for himself. “It’s too dangerous for any of us to know.”

Scott makes a considering noise. “I suppose that’s true. The curiosity’s totally gonna kill Danny, though.”

Danny snorts, but he knows it’s at least somewhat true. For a long time, he was pretty bad at letting a mystery go unsolved. It was what made him a damn good cop. When he lost the job, Danny let that part of himself go. He only really started to get it back working with Five-0. “I’ll live,” he tells the other, because more than anything else, Danny wants this particular case to be over so they can go home.

Out on the freeway, Danny turns toward Chicago and tries to tell himself that curiosity killed the cat. As the sun comes up in front of Danny, he catches Steve's expression in the rear view mirror. Curiosity certainly looks like it might kill the SEAL, if Danny's reading Steve right.

Danny has yet to be wrong when it comes to Steve's facial expressions.

~*~

As soon as the plane touches down on Oahu, Danny turns on his phone and jostles his shoulder until Scott wakes up. Steve's on the aisle seat because of his long legs, and he looks over, giving Danny and Scott weary smiles. The girls are sitting together a few rows ahead of them, and Danny swears he heard Kono's soft snores at some point during the nine hour flight. Chin and Lori ended up in first class when one of the airline officials saw the bandage on Lori's head and offered them the upgrade at a discounted price, so Lori could sleep.

All of a sudden, Danny's phone starts buzzing and beeping like he's never seen it do before. He's got a incoming call from Rachel of all people, and what looks like about two hundred text messages. This can only be an emergency, so instead of screening Rachel's call like he would normally do, he picks up. "Rachel? What's wrong?"

"Finally!" she cries, just about blasting Danny's ear off. Danny takes the phone away from his face and glares at it for a moment before returning it to his ear. "Where have you been all morning, Daniel?"

"We had a job on the mainland," Danny says. "I just landed back on Oahu. What's going on?"

"Grace ran away," Rachel says and Danny's heart drops into his shoes. "She left a note. Oh, God, Danny! We can't find her anywhere."

"As soon as I get off this damn airplane, I'll help look," Danny assures her. "When's the last time anyone saw her?"

Rachel sniffles. "Last night when Stan and I put her to bed."

"Where have you looked?" Danny asks, motioning to Steve to grab their bags from the overhead compartment. "Did you call HPD?"

"Yes! Danny, yes. We've looked everywhere. We've contacted all her friends, we've searched the school. We've searched the _woods_! Where would she go?"

Danny sighs. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

He hangs up on Rachel and quickly dials the number for the phone he gave Grace. It goes to the generic mailbox, and Danny feels like he can barely breathe. Scott's hand is folded tightly in Danny's, and Steve's clearing a path in front of them, calling out, "Make way! This is an emergency!" Danny's vaguely aware of the way Steve uses his tone to get people to obey with no questions asked. 

They're almost off the plane when Danny's phone rings. It's not Rachel. It's Grace. Danny answers the phone, letting his people move him along without really being aware of where they're going except _toward Grace_. "Grace! Monkey, where are you? Your mom is worried sick."

"Daddy," she says, her voice sounding so small it breaks Danny's heart. "I called you and you didn't answer."

Danny's eyes water and he leans on Steve. "I know. I'm sorry, baby. I was on an airplane. Remember, I told you I was out of town?"

"Oh," she says, sniffling. "I forgot."

"Where _are_ you?" Danny asks. Steve's got his hand and they're running through the airport, leaving the others behind. "Just tell me where you are, and Uncle Steve and I will come get you."

"You won't have the police come?" Grace asks, her voice slightly more cheerful. 

"No, I promise," Danny tells her. Steve pulls Danny into the first open taxi at the stand. "Just tell me where you are. I promise I will be there as fast as I can."

"I'm at your house."

"At my..." Danny tells Steve, "She's at our apartment." Turning back to Grace, he asks, "Are you outside the building?"

"No. I'm sitting on your couch."

Danny doesn't know whether to be proud or horrified. "How did you even get in?"

"You keep the keycard taped behind the second planter in the garden, and the code is Grandma Clara's birthday."

"How do you even _know_ Grandma Clara's birthday?" Danny can't help but ask, because as far as Danny knew Grace hadn't been in contact with any of his family members since the arrest. 

"I had a genealogy project for school," Grace says, and Danny's at least twice as proud as she sounds of herself. "I looked up her number on the Internet and used your phone to call her. We talked a bunch."

"Really?" Danny says with a laugh, sitting back in the cab and resting his head on Steve's shoulder. "What did she say?"

"That you're a good man, no matter what Mommy says." Grace sounds absolutely serious, which means she's telling the truth. Danny's mom thinks he's a good man, or at least she thinks it's something Grace needs to hear. He might have to call Clara soon, and thank her for that. "Grandma says you were found not guilty."

"Grandma's right," Danny insists. "They accused me of doing some very bad things, and your mommy got scared. But I never did any of those things."

"When are you coming home, Danno?" Grace asks, which makes Danny duck around and read the street signs around them. 

"Soon," Danny promises as they wait at the light around the corner from their building. "Just a couple more minutes and I'll be there."

Danny stays on the line with Grace until the elevator opens on the penthouse level. "Grace," he calls into the apartment, and he finds her right on the couch, watching cartoons on Catherine's giant monitor with the volume low. "Grace!"

"Danno!" Grace's smile lights up and she drops her phone, scrambling toward Danny like her life depends on it. Danny crouches down and catches her in a hug. He wraps his arms around his baby girl and holds on tight.

"Gracie, Gracie," Danny murmurs, smoothing down her hair with one of his hands. "What were you thinking?"

Grace backs up to arm's length and bites her lips, but she meets Danny's eyes and she's so brave, Danny couldn't be prouder. After a moment, she says in a soft voice, "Mommy and Stan had another fight. It was really scary and I just thought if I could come stay with you, it wouldn't be so scary."

Danny has to bite his tongue so he doesn't start swearing in front of Grace. He takes her hands in his and says, "Monkey, I love that you feel safe around me, but I can't keep you here."

"Daddy," she says in a pleading voice, like Danny has any power whatsoever to change the situation.

"Grace, if I don't take you back to your mother right now, I could get arrested," Danny explains, and it breaks his heart to cause the pain he sees in Grace's eyes. "I could go to jail, baby."

Grace looks over Danny's shoulder. "Uncle Steve?"

Steve nods sadly. "It's true. Until a judge says Danny can see you, there's nothing we can do."

"You picked me up from school!" she cries, and Danny sees that same glare in her eyes as when she was three and had terrible temper tantrums. "I haven't said anything about that! Just let me stay here! You don't have to tell on me!"

Grace breaks out into sobs, so Danny collects her in his arms. He takes a second to toss his phone to Steve and mouths, "Call Rachel." 

Steve nods and takes the phone back into the bedroom, his voice no more than a murmur when he starts speaking. Danny holds Grace while she cries, shedding a few tears himself. 

It feels like forever and no time at all when the buzzer sounds and Steve lets Rachel up into the apartment. The others should be home from the airport by now, so Danny suspects Steve called and asked them to take their time getting home. Rachel certainly doesn't need to find out about Scott, or about the five of them living together in this one-bedroom penthouse. That was a good call on Steve's part.

The elevator doors open and Rachel calls out, "Grace!" just before she steps into the living area and sees Grace and Danny cuddling together on the floor. Rachel gives a relieved sigh. "Grace."

"Mommy," Grace cries, running to Rachel and allowing herself to be wrapped up in Rachel's arms. Danny realizes he was hoping Grace would still be mad at Rachel, or afraid of her or something. But Grace is not. She still loves her mother.

Rachel wipes her eyes and says, "Thank you, Daniel. Thank you for having your friend call."

Steve's there, because Steve is always there when Danny needs him most. He wraps his arm around Danny's shoulder, and suggests, "Gracie, why don't you tell your mom why you ran away?"

Grace narrows her eyes at Steve like he's a traitor and crosses her arms. Pouting, she says, "You and Step-Stan were fighting. I don't like it there. I want to live here!"

"Grace," Danny says with a sigh. He really doesn't want to be the bad guy. "We don't even have a bedroom for you here."

"The penthouse next door is empty," Steve says, like he's helping the situation. "Catherine owns the building. I'm sure she'd let us connect up the two spaces."

"Catherine?" Rachel asks, and even though it's been on purpose, Danny kind of hates how little Rachel knows about his new life. 

"Just one of our coworkers," Steve insists. After all they've been through together, Danny hates calling Catherine _just_ anything. 

But, if the last few years have done anything for Danny, they've given him a much better poker face. 

"Oh. For your...private detective business, correct?" Rachel asks, like Danny doesn't have to provide proof of income on each and every one of his petitions for custody. 

"Five-0," Steve says with a nod. 

"Right, then," Rachel says awkwardly, before turning her attention back to Grace. "Darling, I promise you that Stan and I will no longer have loud arguments, okay? We'll go to family counseling for help compromising with each other."

"You promise?" Grace asks dubiously. Danny can't say he blames her. There are one or two promises Rachel made to Danny that she didn't end up keeping. That whole "for better or for worse" vow, for one.

"Yes, I promise," Rachel assures her. Then she looks up and meets Danny's eye. "I promise."

Danny doesn't know what to think of that, but before he processes it fully, Rachel's encouraging Grace to give Danny one last hug. Danny gives it to her, of course, whispering in Grace's ear, "I love you, Monkey. Danno loves you."

"I love you too, Danno."

When Rachel gently pulls Grace away, both Danny and Grace are crying. Rachel takes Grace away again and Danny watches as long as he can, until the elevator doors close, and then he turns toward Steve. Danny buries his head in Steve's chest and just cries. His baby girl needs him so much and he's not allowed to do anything for her and it's so unfair Danny wants to scream, so he does. 

"Come on," Steve says, steering Danny toward the elevator and into it. As the doors close, Danny sees his blurry reflection in the polished doors and he can't stand it. He winds up his arm, hand balled in a fist, but Steve catches him by the elbow before Danny can let that fist loose. "Just wait," Steve says, his eyes catching Danny's and holding them until the elevator doors open. They're not in the lobby. They're on the third floor, where the gym is.

Danny lets Steve steer him into the gym and in front of the heavy bag. "You should let me tape your hands," Steve says in a gentle voice. 

Danny ignores Steve's advice and starts hitting. He hits the bag hard enough that the force reverberates back through his bones, and it feels good. It feels a little painful, but mostly numb, and it's just what Danny needs.

Danny punches the bag again and again. There are words coming out of his mouth, but he's only half-conscious of what they are. Steve holds the bag steady and hums in agreement. 

Eventually, Danny's arms don't work anymore. He collapses down onto the padded gym floor and puts his head between his knees. "It feels like I'm dying."

Steve crouches down in front of Danny and puts both hands on the back of Danny's head. He says in a low voice, "You're not dying, Danno. We're going to get you visitation rights if I have to buy off the governor herself."

Danny laughs. Running cons on criminals and taking back what belongs to good people are a very light shade of moral gray. Danny almost positive Steve's dark streak doesn't extend as far as bribing elected officials. When Danny looks up and meets Steve's eyes, though, Steve looks deadly serious.

"No," Danny says, shaking his head and reaching out for Steve. "No, I can't let you do something like that, Steven. Please promise me you won't."

Steve clenches his jaw for a moment, then nods. "But I'm putting the best lawyers money can buy onto this case. We're not poor and powerless anymore, Danny. We're getting her back."

God help him, Danny actually believes Steve. Shit.

**Author's Note:**

> I had another scene planned with all five of them together, but this felt like the better ending story-wise. I might finish up that other scene as a sort of epilogue for a future date. 
> 
> Please let me know what you thought! Comments are a sure way to make my day :)
> 
> Also, if anyone has any ideas for what the next one should be titled (The _____ Job), I'd love to hear them!


End file.
